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Petition and signatures to the President appealing for clemency for Yakub Memon

Honourable Sir,

Please accept the following petition and signatures appealing for clemency for Yakub Memon. The petition was circulated and the signatures were collected this afternoon in Delhi University from students and teachers.

We the undersigned strongly urge you to grant clemency to Yakub Memon on the following grounds:

1.Yakub Memon has been granted the death sentence in a case where the main perpetrators- Tiger Memon and Dawood Abraham are still absconding, and sentences of other co-accused have been commuted.

2.He has already been in prison for 21 years. To hang him would be to punish him twice for the same crime.

3.Yakub Memon has co-operated fully with the investigating agencies, as acknowledged by various officials connected with the case. To hang him would be to send out a message to others not to co-operate with the Indian state as it does not appreciate such conduct, or give it recognition during trial and sentencing.

4.There are strong humanitarian reasons. Yakub Memon’s suffers from chronic depression. He has a young daughter who was born soon after his arrest. He has spent his time in jail productively- acquiring two MA degrees, reading, helping other inmates prepare for their exams.

5.There is a glaring disparity in the investigation and aftermath of the earlier Bombay blasts in 1992-93 in which Muslims were killed, and the blasts where Hindu lives were lost. As a representative of a democratic polity we look to you to right the imbalance. Granting Yakub clemency would be a move in this direction.

6.The death penalty is irrevocable, inhuman and barbaric. It has no deterrent effect as apparent from continuing acts of terror.

To execute Yakub Memon would therefore be an act of grave injustice. In the light of the above we once again appeal for clemency for Yakub Memon